Electronics

Indium is one of the rarest metals on Earth, but it’s a key ingredient in ubiquitous electronic devices. Engineers have demonstrated a way to swap indium for graphene, which is made from common carbon, while retaining the same electronic properties.

LG Display has announced the development of a new TV panel technology called OLED EX that's claimed to boost brightness by up to 30 percent compared to other OLED technologies for improved picture quality on big-screen TVs.

Anyone who uses a smartphone will be familiar with NFC technology, which is used for such things as contactless payments. To demonstrate the versatility of the technology when combined with printed circuitry, Prelonic has created the Paper Piano.

Although today's earbuds may seem small, they're limited in form and function by the fact that their speakers require membranes and magnets. A prototype microspeaker overcomes those limitations, potentially providing more uses for in-ear headphones.

An interesting new research project out of Sweden's Linköping University has demonstrated how plant roots can be used as energy storage devices, by watering them with a special solution to make their roots electrically conductive.

By deploying cutting-edge lasers, scientists at the University of Southampton have achieved a 5D optical data storage breakthrough that offers both incredible density and long-term archiving capabilities.

A team of engineers has given microchips a new ability – the power of flight. Inspired by wind-dispersed seeds, these “microfliers” are shaped like tiny propellers to catch the wind, and may be the smallest flying structures ever made by humans.

Infrared spectrometers are expensive and powerful instruments scientists use to analyze the chemical makeup of a sample, and a new research project has made a breakthrough that miniaturizes this technology so much it can be packed into a smartphone.

Rice University researchers have produced a "smart" shirt that uses interwoven carbon nanotube fibers to provide steady electrical contact with the skin, allowing for ongoing gathering of data on heart activity.

Widespread wireless charging could one day keep our devices juiced up indefinitely. A new breakthrough has been made in that direction, as researchers in Japan have developed a system that can turn a whole room into a wireless charger.

Most memory devices us electric signals, but an emerging technology uses light, so data can be read back just by checking if an LED is on or off. Now, researchers have developed a new device based entirely on perovskite that can do both at once.

In reality, the inherent difficulties of recycling electronic devices creates many millions of tons of electronic waste each year, but new research shows how we might chip away at this problem by having key components dissolve in water.